Power press control



April 18, 1933. A. A. BYERLEIN POWER PRESS CONTROL Filed Aug. 20, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet l F1q. l.

April 18, 1933- A. A. BYERLEIN 1,904,676

POWER PRES S CONTROL Filed Aug. 20, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 18, 1933. A. A. BYERLEIN POWER PRESS CONTROL Filed Aug 20, 19:50 a Sheets-Sheet 3 ARTHUR A. BYERLEIN,

Patented Apr. 18, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFECE CORPORATION,

OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL MACHINERY 0F HAMILTOI T, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE POWER PRESS CONTROL Application filed August 20,-

This invention relates to power presses and particularly to the control mechanism there.-

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a power press having control mechanism providing for the manual starting and stopping of the press and embodying means for returning the control member by which the manual control is effected to a stopping position and overcoming manual pressure thereon, the control member having an auxiliary handle for temporarily disconnecting the automatic stopping device.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, the appended claims, and the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a press showing the control mechanism of the press invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the press;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the press control, shown partly in section, the parts being shown in the position of rest;

Fig. 4; is a view corresponding to Fig. 3, but showing the parts in the position they assume during operation of the press;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the press control, shown partly in section;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 7 is a detail view of the trip actuated member.

Referring by reference numerals to the drawings, in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is disclosed, 20 designates the frame of a power press, which is Provided with a slide member 21 slidably mounted for vertical reciprocatory movement, driven from the crank shaft 23 to which it is connected by suitable means such as cranks 22.

It will be understood that the general press arrangement is similar in construction to that embodied in my prior Patent 1,7 06,141 dated March 19, 1929, for power press control. In presses such as are used forstamping metal and the like the slide is generally operated intermittently, one complete cycle of operation consisting of a down stroke of the slide 1930. Serial no. 476,623.

ing brought to rest in an up position to permit the removal of the formed work and the insertion of a fresh blank. For the purpose of imparting such motion to the slide the press is provided with a driving member such as the continuously rotating shaft 24 to which the crank shaft may be connected from time to time by means of a gear train including the gear 25, and the clutch 26. A brake 27 adapted to bear frictionally upon the outer surface of the clutch housing or casing 26 is provided to arrest rotation of the crankshaft 23 at the proper predetermined point inthe cycle of operations. Any suitable type of clutch or brake may be employed, and both are preferably controlled from the clutch control shaft 30 so that when the clutch is engaged by moving the shaft 30 clockwise as shown in Fig. 1 the brake is disengaged, and vice versa.

' The operation of the clutch and the brake to thereby connect or disconnect the slide and crank shaft, is controlled by a mechanism embodyin an operating handle 40 adapted to be graspe by the hand of the operator and moved from the position in which it is shown in Fig. 1, in a counterclockwise direction, to

start the press. This movement of the operating handle 40 moves the link 41 upwardly, this movement being transmitted through the operating shaft 42 to raise the link 43 thereby causing engagement of the clutch and the release of the brake and the consequent operation of the press. The control mechanism is such that the press may be stopped and started at any desired point in its cycle of operations by proper operation of the handle 40, or

it may be stopped automatically at a prede termined point in the cycle of operations by trip mechanism operated from the crank shaft 23 by means of link 44.. The press invention embodies means of novel construction for normally the press if the operator unintentionally or absentmindedly retains his hold on the lever 40 tending to hold it in press running position.

As shown more particularly in Fig. 3, the operating shaft 42 is journalled for rotation followed by an up stroke thereof, the slide bel'iin a bracket 16 secured to the side of the press,

insuring the stopping of and the return of the handle l0 even the link 43 being pivotally connected to an arm 47 rigidly secured at one end of the shaft 42. A trip actuating member 48, shown in detail in Fig. 7, is keyed to the shaft 42, this member being substantially U-shaped as shown, so as to provide two spaced arms 51 and aforwardly extending head portion 49. Loosely mounted on the operating shaft 42 between the arms 51 of the U-shaped member 48 is a bell crank lever 52 having angularly related arms 53 and 54. Arm 54 is pivoted to a link 55 which is suitably connected to a releasing pin 56 extending through a hole in of the trip actuated mem the head portion 49 V ber 48. The pin 56 may be moved to the right from its position shown in Fig. 3 when the bell crank lever 52 is rotated clockwise and this is accomplished by upward move ment of the rod 57 which is pivoted at its lower end to an arm 58 rotatably mounted on a shaft 59. Shaft 59 is rotatably mounted in a bracket member fixed to the press. The arm 58 is moved by an operating rod 60 pi-v otally connected to it at the point 61, and pivoted at its upper end to an auxiliary lever or hand grip 62 which is pivotally mounted on the lever 40, at 63. It will be apparent that when the hand grip 62 is squeezed towards the end of the handle 40 the rods 60 and 57 will be moved upwardly so as to force the pin 56 towards the right. Loosely mounted on the operating shaft 42 on either side of the trip actuated member 48 are a pair of frames 67 herein shown as of tri angular shape, which are connected by bolts 68 to form a cage-like trip carrier. Pivotally mounted on one of these bolts 68 is a trip or actuated part 7 0, the upper'end of which normallyprojects up into the path of'movement of the pin 56 so that when the ain is moved to the right the trip 7 O is forced over to the right against the action of a spring pressed pin 71. he trip actuated member 48 has a face or shoulder 72 formed on the forwardly extending head portion 49. The trip or actuating part carries a pair of connected grooved side plates 74 which provide a guide for a slidable block 75 having a top head portion which may be engaged by the pin 56, and a depending slide portion. A screw 7 6secured in the actuating part 7 O and passing through an aperture in the block 75 limits the upward sliding movement of the block and at the same time serves as a central supporting post for the coiled spring 7 7 which normally holds the block in its uppermost'position. Downward sliding movement of the block 75 is limited by engagement of the block itself with the upper end of the actuating part as shown in Fig.

4. The shoulders 78 which extend laterally from the side plates 74 for engagement with the face 72 of the trip actuated part are spaced apart on opposite sides of the position of the pin 56. When the block 75 is in its normal uppermost posimember 48 counterclockwise tion it will be apparent that it may be engaged by the end of the unlocking or releasing pin 56 when this pin is moved outwardly by the handgrip 62, and the actuating part or trip 70 will then be moved about its pivot so that the engagement of the shoulders 78 with the face 72 will be destroyed.

Thetrip carrier frame 67 is connected by means of a rod 44 with an eccentrically mounted crank pin provided on thecrank plate 80 secured on the end of the crank shaft 23.

The crank plate 80 is angularly adjustable with respect to the end of the crank shaft 23, by means of slots andlock bolts as shown in Fig. 2, whereby the position of the trip carrier frame 67- and the link 44 maybe varied withrespect to the stroke of the slide 21. The rotation of the crank shaft imparts an up and down movement to the link44 and this causes the trip carrierframe 67 to be swung up and down about the; operating shaft 42. As the frame swings upwardly, if the trip or'actuated part 7 Ois in engagement with the trip-actuated member 48 the shaft 42 will be rocked counterclockwise and the hand lever 40 together with the clutch and brake rods will be swung back to their normal positions so that the press will stop.

It is obvious that the trip or actuated part 70 remains in engagement with the trip actu ated member 48 when the press is stopped. so the first action on the part of the operator must beto release the engagement between the trip part 70 on tripcarrier frame 67 and the trip actuated member,that is the operating shaft 42 must be disconnected from the press driven parts. The operators first action is therefore to seize the hand grip 62 thus causing it to move towards the end of the hand lever 40 and this moves the end of the unlo'eki-ng'pin 56 outwardly topush the trip 70 away from its engagement with the trip actuated member." This then permits the lever 40 to be moved counterclockwise as shown in F ig. 3 to rotate the shaft 42 clockwise, and the trip actuated member 48 is likewise rotated'clockwise, while the frame 67 and the trip 7 0 remains stationary. As soon as theshaft 42 has been rotated to cause starting of the press the trip carrier frame 67 will start to move down about the shaft 42 from its uppermost position of rest. It will swing down to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 4 during the time the press slide is moved down to engage the work or blank. The trip carrier frame then starts tomove up again and before the slide reaches its uppermost position (andassuming that the hand grip 62 has been released so that the weight of the rods 60 and 57 can pull the releasing pin 56 back into the hole in the trip actuatedmeme ber 48), the shoulders 78 engage the face 72 and continued movement of the trip carrier frame and the trip swings the trip actuated causing the clutch to be released and the brake applied and also causing the hand lever 40 to be moved over to its position of rest as shown in Fig. 8 even if the operator continues to hold this lever. This insures that the press will stop at the end of one complete cycle of operation, even if the operator should absentmindedly hold on to the lever 40. To start the press again the operator seizes the hand grip 62 to move the trip actuated part out of engagement with the trip actuated member i8 so that he can swing the lever 40 to press starting position.

Let us assume that instead of releasing the hand grip 62 after the operator has started the press by swinging the lever 40 to press starting position (see Fig. 4), then the re leasing pin 56 remains projected from the hole in the trip actuated member 48, after it has released the trip 7 0. Even under such conditions the press will automatically stop and overcome the operators pressure on the lever 40, for the slide block will be forced down against the action of the spring 77 when its upper end comes in engagement with the rejecting nose of the releasing pin 56, and the shoulders 78 will then engage the face 7 2 on the trip actuated member 48 and force the latter in a counterclockwise direction to operate the clutch and brake through shaft a2, and swing the hand lever 40 back to its normal position, as shown in Fig. 3.

If the pressure exerted by the spring 67 and the slide 75 of the trip 70, on the projecting end of the releasing pin 56 holds the latter against the weight of the rods 57 and 60 so that the press stops with the hand grip 62 swung against the end of the hand lever 40, the releasing pin may be retracted by pulling out on the hand grip 62 or pulling down on the rods 60 or 57 so that the slide 75 of the trip can spring up into position where it may be forced over by the releasing pin when the press is to be started again.

From the foregoing it will be perceived that the operator cannot maintain the press in operation merely by holding the operating handle 40 or by holding the hand grip 62 against the end of the operating handle, some further conscious act of the operator being required when he desires the press to continue in its operation throughout several complete cycles. The press, however. can be placed in continuous operation by disengaging or disabling the automatic trip mechanism. This may be done by locking the trip 70 in an inoperative or ineffective position so that it cannot engage the shoulder face 7 2 of the trip actuated part. The actuated part or trip 70 is locked over against the action of the spring pressed pin 71 by means of a locking pin 82 provided on the trip carrier frame 67 and adapted to be turned and permitted to drop under the action of a suitable spring into a hole 83 in the side of the trip 70. When the automatic stop mechanism is rendered ineffective by holding the trip 70 in an inoperative position the press will continue in. operation until it is stopped by manual movement of the lever 40 to press stopping position, which may be accomplished at any time in the press cycle.

While the form of apparatus herein described constitutes a preferred embodiment of the invention, it isto be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise form of apparatus, and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a power press, a slide member mounted for reciprocatory movement therein, a driving member, a driving connection including a clutch means operable when engaged to operatively connect said members and releasable to disengage said members, control means including a control hand lever manually movable to a starting position to cause engagement of said clutch means and consequent operation of the press, means re sponsive to the operation of the slide member for automatically disengaging said clutch means and returning said hand lever to its initial position, an unlatching lever on said hand lever operable to temporarily disconnect said automatic disengaging means to render it ineffective, the said means which is responsive tothe operation of the slide member having provision for disengaging the clutch means at the completion of a cycle of operations of the slide member regardless of the position of the unlatching lever.

2. In a power press, a slide member mounted for reciprocatorymovement therein, a driving member, a driving connection including a clutch means operable when engaged to operatively connect said members and releasable to disengage said members, control means including a control member manually movable to a starting position to cause engagement of said clutch means and consequent operation of the press, a trip actuated member operated by said control member, a trip responsive to the operation of the slide member for engaging said trip actuated member to return the manually removable member to its initial position, disengaging means for moving said trip away from said trip actuated member, and an auxiliary handle provided on said control member and adapted to be moved toward the end of the control member and in the direction of press starting movement of said control member for actuating said disengaging means.

3. In a power press, a slide member mounted for reciprocatory movement therein, a driving member, a driving connection including a clutch means operable when engaged to operatively connect said members and releasable to disengage said members, control means including a control member manually movable to a starting position to cause engagement of said clutch means and consequent operation of the press, a trip actuated member operated by said control member, a trip responsive to the operation of the slide member for engaging said trip actuated memher toreturn the manually movable member to its initial position, disengaging means for moving said trip away fromsaid trip actuated member, and an auxiliary handle on said control means for actuating said disengaging means. i

In testimony whereof I hereto aflix my signature. 7

ARTHUR A. BYERLEIN. 

